Delayed Beginnings

Rehearsals for Vagina Dentata began last week, although the real work begins tonight. We had an opening rehearsal party on Monday since most of the cast don't really know each other. We were short one actor, however, as I hadn't cast the final role yet. I wouldn't have the role of "Stephanie" cast until the middle of the week, since we had lost one actor and shifted roles for another. Here's a little peek behind the curtain of the magic and glamour of theatre. One actor is only available once a week due to a show that she's doing down in San Jose. We don't get her full time for another week or so. One actor is working nights doing drama therapy at a local prison on Tuesday nights, so she's gone. One actor hadn't been cast yet and was closing a show last weekend, so once she was cast she wasn't able to start immediately. Add to that the usual cast conflicts that come up, especially at the early part of a rehearsal run, we only had one rehearsal last week.

Normally, this would bother me, but with this cast I have no doubts that we can turn out a damn good show with only four weeks of rehearsal. It's partly the danger of casting a lot of very talented, working actors and also something that is more likely to happen when you write a show in which almost everyone gets equal stage time.

Still, I used my time to enjoy what free time I still have. I caught the new show (Roulette) at the SF Playhouse on Wednesday and quite liked it, although it felt like the author had built a really sold first act and then found that he had a fifteen minute second act and tried to fill forty minutes with it. Well acted, but I kept waiting for the story to go somewhere and it kind of danced around in circles. It was the second show I'd seen recently in which madness and insane rambling played a significant role and I am struck by how much a little can go a long way. It's a device I used myself way back in "In a Distant Country", although I was careful to keep it to a minimum. A three page scene can sustain that kind of dialogue a lot easier than a twenty page scene can.

I was able to catch the closing weekend of Dylan Russel's show "World Music" over at Theatre First on Saturday, which was a rare treat as it's one of the very few theatres based in Oakland. It's so odd to be able to walk to the theatre and not have to worry about catching BART afterwards. An excellent and emotionally gripping show about war, atrocity, conscience and personal blindness that reminded me thematically of "Small Tragedies", despite the fact that in every other way they were very different shows. The two shows are a good example of how the same themes can be treated in radically different ways and that two authors tackling the same issues will tell two very different stories.

Sunday night brought another RadioStar recording session, and our first live performance. Lila Theatre has a monthly improv showcase called Tememos and they asked us to come and open the show this month. It was our first time setting up the equipment and doing our thing in front of a live audience, although all of us have countless hours in front of audiences. The impact of the microphones on the audience and the audience on us was fascinating. They were clearly stifling their laughter, emitting titters and chocking down responses out of fear of ruining the recording, and we went a bit more for the jokes, working the audience, than we do when in the studio. Old stage habits began to creep into the show, so it'll be interesting to hear how it plays as pure audio.

I did have a bit of a shock yesterday when I got into the studio last night to find that one of my renters had smashed up against the Pharmarsupial poster and broken the frame... and not left a note or anything. I really don't want to start getting kindergarten teacher on people, but if I have to make everyone put their heads on the desk and raise their hand if they did it, I will.

Postcards for Vagina Dentata and viral cards for RadioStar are at the printers and should be in my hands this week. The PR push has begun and I need to send out the 4 week press releases today.